Folding or collapsible chair



July 16, 1929. E. H. DEAN FOLDING OR COLLAPSIBLE CHAIR 2 sheet-sheet 1 Filed April 5, 1928 dlllllllllllllllllll Q. nl u 0;

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July 16, 1929. E. H. DEAN FOLDING OR COLLAPSIBLE CHAIR Filed April 5,- 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented July 16, 1929.

UNITED starr."

mini y EDWARD HAROLD DEAN, or untrue, LONDON, ENGLAND;

FOLDING ORCLLAPSIBL'E CHAIR.

Application filed April 5, 1928, Serial No. 267,555, and kin lGreat Britain January 26, '1928,'.

Folding or collapsible chairs` are known whereof the rear legs are pivoted to the front legs at the top of which the back-is formed,A

whilst theseat is adapted tofbe tipped-up when not required. Folding chairs are also known with the seat pivoted .between the front legs, with the rear legs pivoted to the front legs on an axis above the level of the .seat and means'pfor causing.` co-action between said seat and rear legs so that when the former is tipped upthe latter are folded to-YV wards the front-legs and the chair assumes its flat or collapsed state. This cofactionbe'- tween theseat and the rear legs may be brought abouteg. the engagement in longitudinal slots inthe rear legs of pins projecting outwardly from that part of the seat in rear of its pivotal axis, or by replacing said pins by apertured elements or the like through which said rear legs pass, but in either event the tipping upvof the seat involves the folding of the rear legs towards the front legs and, although suchV chairs, when not required for use, can be collapsed or folded and stored in a very small space, they present Athe disadvantage that the seat cannot be tipped up whilst the legs remain in their `open or extended positions. The object of the presentv invention vis to obviate this disadvantage by lapsed into the. samefspace as those mentioned abov-e and yet, the seat of which, when re-` quired, can be tipped-up, without collapsing the legs, e. g'. Ato facilitate the movement of people between rows of chairs and iii-front of those `chairs already occupied, thus enablingrows of chairs to be placed closer together with, consequent increase of seating capacity onv a given floor space.

According to this inv-ention the improved folding or collapsible chaircomprises a pair of front legs, in one wit-h which the back is formed, a seat pivoted betweensaid front legs, a pair of rear legs pivoted tov said front legs on an axis above the level of said seat and an intermediate member or apair ofV intermediate members pivoted relatively to said front legsandadapted, 0n the one hand,

,Y to Cofactwith said rear legs vso that when 5o said member` ormembers yare turnedabout their pivot-al axis said rear legs will be folded from their open or extended to their closed or collapsed position, or vice versa, and, on the other hand, to serve as stops for the seat the provision of a chair which .can be col,l

When such a chair-is to -be folded .from its y 'fr rica.

clos-ed or collapsed Vposition to its opener ex- .i

tended position, for use, the mere act of fold ing `down the seat` brings about extension'or outward movementof the rear ,legs-as lthe seat, actingagainst the stop portions `of the intermediate members, causes said membersy to turn about their pivotal axis, whilst their consequent coaotion with the rear legs causes operrig or extension of the latter. hen,

however, the Seat is tipped-up from its substantially horizontal position, the interj-l inediate members are unaffected and the rear legs remainopen or extended, but if the rear Y L,7o legs are to be closed or collapsed, this maybe 4 done by movement of the intermediate members about theirpivotal axis. v

The intermediate members may, with convenience, be pivotedcoaxially with the seat-v bypassing a rod through said threefele-vv ments and through the front legs.

nected vwith one another .sofas easily tobe operable simultaneously, for instance, they` may be-formed fr omy a'strip of metal bent to f a fla't'U-form the central portion of which ex tends. across the chairbeneath theV seatv thereanother and adapted to overlie the sides of the seat nearv the rear edge thereofto constitute stops,J whilst' other. portionsof said limbs are adapted to coact `with the rear legs,

e. g, in either ofthe manners sety forthV above. Alternatively, the intermediate members may b e inter-connected inV rear of their pivotal axis, andv if desired provided witha depending handle Iknuckleq'ointed to their connecting memberI so that rafter the seat hasy beentipped-up .said handle may loe pulled` If de,-` sired, the intermediate members may be con-l forwardly and upwardly to rock-said int er'` t mediate members about their pivotal axis and bring about the desired coaction with the reari legs to close or collapse them towards the front legs. Y

By way of example two'forins of folding chair in accordance with the present invention are illustrated Vby the accompanying drawings wherein Figure l is a side elevation of one form .showing thelegs in the open or.

extended position. Figure 2 is a plan thereof and Figure v3 is a side elevation showing the legs in the closed or collapsed position,

parts of Figures 1 and 2 being broken awayv for the sake of clearness, whilst Figures 4, 5 and 6 .are similar views respectively of a f modified form of chair.

The chair shown in Figures l, 2 and 3 has a pair of front legs a a, in one with which is formed a back consisting of a pair of curved bars b and a pair of rear legs c c [pivoted as at d to the front legs a a. A rod e circular channel section. As shown in F ig- Vv `Tures 1 and 3 each member g is provided With an outwardly directed pin 7' which extends into a slot 7c formed in the adj acent rear leg c, so that when the two members g g are rocked about the rod c by means of the central part z they rear legs c 0 are moved from the position f it isf desired to collapse the chair thisemay` of chair in which the rear legs are constituted v shown in Figure 1 to that shown in Figure 3, or vice versa. The intermediate members g g areformed with inwardly directed lugs suchj asm m, (Figure2) adapted to overlie the lateral edges of the seat h in rear of the pivotal rod e and to serve as retaining stops therefor when in the substantially horizontal position as shown in full lines in Figure -1. Owing to the fact that there is no direct connection between the seat h and the rear legs 0 c it is possible, when required to tip-up the seat'k, as indicated in broken lines inv Figure 1, leaving the remainder of the chair in its open or extended position When be done by pulling upwards the central part z' which connects the intermediate members g g. e

. Figures 4, 5 and 6 show a modified form by arod of iron 01 bent to substantially U shapeQ In this case the intermediate membersvg g are bentoutwardly and obliquely, as shown at n n, andL formed as eyes through which the limbs of the rod c1 are threaded in order that the necessary coaction between the members g g and the lrear legs may be produced in a manner known for the purpose of causing the pivoted seat of ay folding chair to coact with the rear legs thereof.

I claim: 1. An improved folding or collapsible chai-r comprising a pair offront legs, a back formed in one with said front legs, a seat pivotally mounted between said front legs, a pair of rear legs pivoted to said front legs on an axis abovethe level of said seat, an intermediate member pivoted relatively to said Y horizontal position.

front legs, a sliding connection between said intermediate member and Said rear legs, and a stop on said intermediate member adapted to engage said seat when the lattery has been lowered to its substantially horizontal position. i

2. An improved folding or collapsible chair comprising a pair of front legs, a back formed in one with said front legs, a seat pivotally mounted betweenV said front legs, a pair of rear legs, pivoted to said front legs on an axis above the level of said seat, an intermediatemember pivoted to said front legs coaxially with said seat, asliding connection between said intermediate member and said rear legs, and afstop on said intermediate member adapted to engage said seat when the latter has been lowered to its substantially 3. An improved folding or collapsible chair comprising a pair of front legs, a back formed in one with said front legs, a seat pivotally mounted between said front legs, a

pair of rear legs pivoted to said vfront legs on an axis above the level of said seat, intermediate members pivoted'relatively to said front legs, said 1ntermed1ate members bemgl con-;

nected with one another and formed 'with inf wardly directed lugs adapted to overlie the sides of said seat near 'the rear edge thereof when said seat has been lowered to its substantially horizontal position, said intermediate members being formed also with meansl members being connected with one another and formed with inwardly directed lugs adapted to overlie the sides of said seatneary the rear edge thereof when said seat has been lowered to its substantially horizontal position, said intermediate formed also with means having a slidingconnection with said rear legs, said seat being adapted for raising or lowering without collapsing said chair.

5, An improved folding v or collapsiblechair comprising a pair of front legs, a backV formed in one with said front legs, a seat pivotally mounted between said front legs, a pair of rear legs pivoted to said front legs on an axis above the level of said seat, 'intermediate members pivoted relatively to said front legs, said intermediate members being connected with one another and formed with inwardly directed lugs adapted to overliethe sides of said seat near the rear edge thereof members beingv when said seat has been lowered to its subrear legs pivoted to said main frame and stantially horizontal position, said intermeadapted to collapse thereinto, a seat pivoted diate members being formed also with outto said main frame below the pivot of said wardly extending pins adapted to extend rear legs and being unconnected to said rear 5 into slots in said rear legs to provideasliding legs, and a pair y of iniermedlate members 15 connection between said intermediate mem; adjustably contacting wlth said rear legs and bers and rear legs. pivoted on said seat pivot to brace said seat Y 6. In a folding chair of the class described 1n Open POSltOna mainframe including front legs and a back 10 rest portion ooextensive therewith, a pair of EDWARDv HAROLD DEAN. 

